User blog:Oshbosh/Season 3 Pilot Battle: Sauron vs Voldemort
The thrid season has started. And what better way to start it then with a battle of two dark lords as Sauron, the maia who created the one ring and attempted to destroy Middle Earth takes on Voldemort, the dark wizard who attempted to take over the Wizarding World? WHO IS DEADLIEST?! Biographies Sauron In the earliest of days, before the Valar entered Arda, Sauron was originally known as Mairon the Admirable, a powerful Maia of Aulë the Smith, who was a Vala, creator of Dwarves. However, Mairon was soon corrupted by the Dark Lord Morgoth ("The Great Enemy" in the tongue of men) an evil Valar and Dark Enemy of Arda, and turned evil, taking the name, "Sauron." At first, he was a spy for Morgoth, telling him of the Valar's doings. Ever after, Sauron served Morgoth faithfully, and even in later days, after Morgoth was defeated and locked outside the confines of the world, Sauron encouraged and coerced some men to worship Morgoth as the one and true god. However, while Morgoth wanted to either control or destroy the very matter of Arda itself, Sauron's desire was to dominate the minds and wills of its creatures, as well as establish himself as the ruler of Arda from his tower of Barad-dûr in Mordor. However, he originally dwelt in Angband in the Iron Mountains for a period of time before Melkor came and claimed it again in the First Age. During the First Age, the Noldorin elves left the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Utter West (against the counsel of the Valar) in order to wage war on Morgoth, who had stolen the Silmarils of Fëanor, enchanted gems that glowed with light from the now-destroyed Trees of Valinor. In that war, Sauron served as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank save Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs. Known as Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron at that time was known for his sorcery, was a master of illusions, and could change his form. He was a master of werewolves, chief among them Draugluin, Sire of Werewolves, and Vampires, among themThuringwethil, his herald. When Morgoth left Angband to corrupt the newly awakened Atani (Men), Sauron directed the war against the Elves. He conquered the Elvish isle of Tol Sirion, so that it became known as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves. Ten years later, Finrod Felagund, the king of Nargothrond and former lord of Tol Sirion died protecting Beren in captivity; soon afterward Lúthien and Huan the wolf-hound defeated Sauron in that place and rescued Beren from the dungeons into which Sauron had thrown him. After his defeat by Lúthien, Sauron played little part in the events of the First Age (possibly hiding from Morgoth's wrath), and after his master was defeated and taken to Valinor in chains, Sauron seemed to repent and pled toEönwë and the victorious Host of the West for mercy. Although his plea was probably genuine, Sauron was unwilling to return to the Utter West for judgment, and so he fled and hid somewhere in Middle-earth. After lying hidden and dormant for 500 years, he began revealing himself once more, and by SA 1000 he gathered his power and established himself in the land of Mordor in eastern Middle-earth and begun building the dreaded Dark Tower of Barad-dûr near Mount Doom. Sauron, like Morgoth, soon began raising massive armies of Orcs, Trolls, and possibly other creatures, as well as corrupting the hearts of Men with delusions of power and wealth, chieflyEasterlings and Southrons (the Haradrim). Although Sauron knew that Men were easier to sway, he sought to bring the Elves into his service, as they were far more powerful. By about SA 1500, Sauron put on a fair visage in the Second Age, and calling himself Annatar, the "Lord of Gifts", he befriended the Elvish smiths of Eregion, and counseled them in arts and magic. Not all the Elves trusted him however, particularly Lady Galadriel, Elrond, and Gil-galad, High King of the Ñoldor, though few listened to them. However, as soon as Sauron put the Ring on his finger the Elves sensed his treachery, and removed their rings and hid them. Enraged, Sauron came against them in open war and demanded that all the Rings of Power be given to him. The Elves managed to hide the three greatest of the Rings from him, but the other sixteen Rings of Power were either captured by Sauron, destroyed, or lost. To the Dwarves he had given seven, but to Men he had given Nine, knowing that they would be the easiest to enslave. The Dwarf Lords who received the Rings proved to be very resistant to their power, and neither "faded" nor became enslaved to Sauron's will. The Rings instead created in them an insatiable lust for gold, which ultimately caused a great deal of grief for the Dwarves. As Sauron predicted however, the nine Men were all corrupted by their Rings and became the Nazgûl, Sauron's deadliest servants.Despite this, Sauron encouraged and assisted the Elves in forging the Rings of Power, though in secret Sauron forged his own, the One Ring, to rule the Elvish rings. Upon that ring Sauron left the inscription, Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. In Westron the inscription translated into One Ring to Rule Them All, One Ring to Find Them, One Ring to Bring Them All, and in the Darkness Bind Them. In this era, during which he marshalled and commanded great armies, Sauron became known as the Dark Lord of Mordor and his fortress of Barad-dûr wascompleted. He was very powerful even without control of the Elves, and he conquered nearly all of Middle-earth during the War of the Elves and Sauron. However, the armies of Númenór's King Tar-Minastir were finally able to defeat him at a last battle near Gwathló or the Greyflood in SA 1700. Defeated but not vanquished, Sauron retreated back to Mordor and began recouping his strength over the many centuries.Had the Elves not recognized Sauron's treachery and forsaken the power of their rings, the results would have been catastrophic for the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth. It seems that most if not all of the native Men of Middle-Earth succumbed to the power of the Ring once the Nazgûl were created; the Númenórians were spared because of their distance. The Elves, had they been captured in this fashion, would have become the slaves of Sauron, and thus Celebrimbor's resistance was immense importance in the history of Middle-earth. Towards the end of the Second Age, Sauron was once again powerful enough to raise again large armies to attempt to rule Middle-earth. By this time, he assumed the titles of "Lord of the Earth" and "King of Men". Sauron's rise in power and apparent intention to crown himself the King of all Men offended theNúmenóreans; the powerful Men descended from those who had fought against Melkor in the War of Wrath. Some were the descendants, through Elros, of Beren and Lúthien. These Men lived on the island of Númenor in the sea between Middle-earth and Valinor. The Númenóreans, who were then proud, came to Middle-earth with astounding force of arms. King Ar-Pharazôn marched his troops all the way to Mordor without a single battle, and demanded that Sauron abase himself before the King. Sauron could see clearly that even the most powerful of his servants could not stand against the Númenóreans, and so came fromBarad-dûr without any offer of battle. He assumed a fair form and flattered Ar-Pharazôn, but the King demanded that Sauron come back to Númenor as a hostage. Sauron feigned unhappiness at this development but secretly was delighted, for this presented him with an opportunity to destroy the Númenóreans from within. After only a few short years in Númenor he grew from captive to the King's most trusted adviser, and nearly all the King's court fawned upon him. Drawing on their fear of death, he converted many Númenóreans to the worship of Morgoth, lying that Morgoth had the power to save them from mortality. As his power and influence reached its peak, he raised a great Temple in which he performed human sacrifices to Morgoth. Finally, he convinced Ar-Pharazôn to rebel against the Valar and attack Valinor itself and claim it for himself. But here, Sauron's cunning overreached itself, for Eru then directly intervened - Númenor was drowned under the sea, and the great navy of Númenor was destroyed and the army that reached Aman was buried under mountains of falling rock and imprisoned in the Caves of the Forgotten. The world was bent, so that thereafter, only Elven-Ships could sail into the Utter West. Sauron's body was destroyed, but his spirit was not diminished, and he fled back to Mordor bearing the Ring, where he slowly rebuilt a new body and his strength during the time known as the Dark Years. From this point on, he lost the ability to assume a fair shape, and ruled now through terror and force. A few faithful Númenóreans led by Elendil were saved from the flood, and they founded Gondor and Arnor in Middle-earth. After a brief period of renewed war, Elendil and his people allied with the Elven-king, Gil-Galad to create the Last Alliance, and together fought Sauron. They finally defeated his armies at the Battle of Dagorlad, and laid siege to Barad-dûr for seven years. Finally, Sauron himself came forth and dueled both Elendil and Gil-galad. He slew them both but Isildur, son of Elendil, took up his father's broken sword, Narsil and cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger, after which Sauron's spirit fled again in ruined form. But later the Ring betrayed Isildur, so that he was slain by orcs at Gladden Fields, and the Ring was lost for centuries. After that, the One Ring was found by Smeagol's friend Deagol. Sauron without the Ring lost his ability to take any physical form for a long time, and possibly retreated into the Far East until the time was right. When the Ring was cut from his hand, he was unable to restore his body for a few thousand years. This is because Sauron had diverted all of his power, hatred, cruelty, malice and will to dominate all life into the Ring, and thus lacked the strength for some time to re-manifest himself in Arda. However, as Isildur failed to destroy the Ring, Sauron's power steadily grew. Being a Maia, though severely weakened in comparison to his former self, Sauron was able to create another body for himself after some time, but his strength was still alive in the Ring, allowing him to slowly draw on it until he regained a body and was able to actively gather armies for his assault on Middle-Earth. Gollum It is stated that Sauron "has only four fingers on the Black Hand", though it is unclear why Sauron was unable to restore the fifth. It is possible Gollum was simply in error, speaking in riddles, or simply using a metaphor. The One held the majority of Sauron's strength after the loss of his form in the Fall of Númenor, such as that when he lost his physical body and vast majority of his power to the broken blade of Isildur. His armies seemingly dispersed, lacking Sauron's will driving them on through the Ring. In the Third Age, Sauron arose again in TA 1000, at first in a stronghold called Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery, in southern Mirkwood TA 1050. There, he was disguised as a dark sorcerer known as the Necromancer, and the Elves did not realize at first that he was actually Sauron returned. The wizard Gandalf went to Dol Guldur in TA 2063 in secret to see who it was that ran Dol Guldur but Sauron, sensing that his secret identity was about to be unveiled, had fled before him and gone into the East to hide; thus began the Watchful Peace. Sauron returned inTA 2460. Gandalf the Grey stole into Dol Guldur in TA 2850 and discovered the truth. Eventually, the White Council put forth their might and drove Sauron out in TA 2941. Without the Ring in his possession, Sauron could draw on only the smallest fraction of its strength, so that his enemies were able to drive him from Dol Guldur with relative ease. The Dark Lord, having had ample time to prepare, simply returned to Mordor and rebuilt Barad-dûr. Here, Sauron prepared for the final war against the free people of Middle-earth. Sauron bred immense armies of Orcs and allied with and enslaved Men from the east and south. He gathered his most terrifying servants, the Nazgûl (airi in Quenyan), or Ringwraiths, each wearing one of the nine rings designed for mortal men. He adopted the symbol of a lidless eye, and was able to exert his will over Middle-earth, so that the Eye of Sauron became a symbol of power and fear. While Sauron did have a physical form, he remained much weakened without the One Ring and remained hidden in the shadows, directing his armies from afar. After the creature Gollum, who had previously possessed the ring, was captured, Sauron had him tortured and learned that he once had a magic ring, and from him he heard the words Shire and Baggins. He deduced that Gollum's ring was the One Ring, and sent his servants the Nine to find Shire and search for Baggins, so that the One Ring might be found and brought back to him. But due to the combined efforts of Gondor, Rohan, and the Army of the Dead, Sauron's army was defeated. He still had many armies in reserve, however, and enough military strength to easily conquer Middle-earth once Gondor fell. Yet he thought that Aragorn had the Ring, and was seeking to master it.Meanwhile, Sauron had allied with the wizard Saruman, whom he had ensnared into his service, expecting the wizard to move against Rohan and thus remove one of the major threats Sauron faced in his planned conquest of Gondor and the remaining Elves. Saruman failed however, and Sauron lost his most potent ally as well as Saruman's massive army of Uruk-Hai. Shortly after Saruman's defeat, Peregrin Took looked into the Palantír that Saruman had possessed, and accidentally communicated with Sauron, who believed that Saruman had captured the Halflingsbearing the Ring, but when Aragorn took the palantir and revealed himself, Sauron realized that Saruman had failed. Concluding that the Heir of Isildur carried the ring, and could possibly use it against him, Sauron had his forces attack the city of Minas Tirith, seeking to crush it, and with it the last true resistance to his rule. In order to buy time for Frodo to reach Mt. Doom, and to distract Sauron from the peril in his own land, Gandalf and Aragorn led the remaining host from Minas Tirith to the Black Gate, making Sauron believe that Aragorn did indeed intend to challenge him directly.Instead of striking out and covering Middle-Earth in a second darkness akin to Morgoth's near-victory, he waited for a period of strife between Aragorn and other potential Ringlords in which he would move out and take the Ring for himself. All the rest of the Orc armies from Barad-dur had gotten to Udun, once Sauron foresaw their coming, to utterly crush the Men of the West, and regain his prize. Gandalf and Aragorn's ploy worked: Frodo was able to reach Mount Doom, and upon putting on the Ring, Sauron suddenly became aware of him. Though enraged, he was suddenly gripped with terror, realizing his own folly, and frantically sent the Ringwraiths towards the mountain to retrieve the Ring. He was too late however, and Gollum, after taking the Ring from Frodo, slipped into the Cracks of Doom. With his source of power destroyed Sauron was utterly defeated and his armies were destroyed or scattered, bereft of the driving will behind their conquest. Barad-dûr fell, and Mordor itself was shaken to its core as Orodruin (Mount Doom) belched fire. The eight remaining Nazgul, who had left their combat with the Great Eagles to race to Mount Doom, were consumed in the fire. His physical form destroyed, Sauron's spirit hovered above Mordor like a malevolent black cloud, only to be blown away by a powerful wind from the West, surviving only as a helpless spirit of malice in the wilderness. All of his old strength that was "native to him in his beginning", in the words of Gandalf, was forever lost. Since his new body was based solely on the powers of the Ring, it was destroyed when the Ring was unmade. Without the strength of the Ring to aid him, he would never regain enough power to form the weakest body in Arda. The power of the form that a Maia or Ainu took seems to be representative of the powers they themselves wielded. Morgoth, for example, originally could take a huge number of powerful, noble forms, but as he poured his power and malice into Arda in an attempt to pervert it, he gradually restricted himself to the form of a Dark Lord, weak enough to be challenged by an Elven King. Sauron, now, had invested most if not all of his power, hatred, malice, etc., into the Ring. What was left was lost in the Downfall of Numenor. When the Ring was destroyed, he no longer had the strength to support a physical form in Arda and thus was restricted to existing as a mean spirit, weak and forever unable to take part in the events of Middle-earth. While evil would continue to exist, Sauron could never emerge as a Dark Lord again and never would have the power to create an army or draw evil creatures to his rule as he once did. Another theory as to Sauron's fate exists, namely that Sauron could not continue to live, as he could have been sucked into the Void from which there can be no return. The problem with this, of course, is that Morgoth himself is in the Void, and is alive, though he, too, appears to have lost his Fëa (From the LOTR wiki) Voldemort Throughout Voldemort's childhood, as Tom Riddle, he was shown to have special abilities, such as making animals perform special tasks they would not ordinarily do, or making people hurt. Having these powers, he nothing short of abused them, mentally scarring his peers but never getting caught. At age eleven, he was invited to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Voldemort became fascinated by the dark arts during his years of education. He eventually discovered that Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of the school, hid a deadly creature inside what was called the Chamber of Secrets. His incomplete works of ridding the wizarding world of muggle-borns would be continued by Tom Riddle in his fifth year who unleashed the beast on several muggle-borns throughout the school. Post-Hogwarts, Voldemort continued gaining power, made numerous horcruxes, and became known as the most powerful dark wizard of all time. He began recruiting followers, known as "Death Eaters". After hearing a prophesy of his downfall, he decided to hunt the prophesied wizard. Finding his eventual vanquisher, he cast a killing curse, but it rebounded and hit him. While he was kept alive by his horcruxes which enabled immortality, he was immensely weakened, and all of his followers fled, assuming him to be dead. After regaining his power, he managed to smuggle some death eaters into Hogwarts, and assassinated Albus Dumbledore. After that, his goal was to find and kill Harry Potter. After failing to kill Harry, Voldemort proceeded to overthrow the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, gaining supreme control over the wizarding world. He then led a smear campaign on Harry to turn the public against him. To gain more power for the final confrontation, he sought to gain possession of the Elder wand, the most powerful wand in existence. Voldemort then lead a full-scale assault on Hogwarts with his death eaters to kill Harry. This ultimately failed, and Voldemort was killed when his killing curse rebounded again, since the Elder Wand refused to kill its true master. (From Voldemorts page) Weapons and Powers X-Factors Who is more durable? Who has better magical prowess? Who is more experianced? Category:Blog posts